Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The Nephilim vs The Sons of God

The following blog, like the others I have written here, is a component of a major work in progress...at the present moment I am correlating all of this data to form a single thesis. Your comments and any additional related information are welcome.

Humbly,

Naga Fangzahne


Psalm 109:5-7
They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.

Appoint the Evil One to oppose him;
and let Satan stand at his right hand (to accuse him).

When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.

Psalm 10:15,18

"Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;...In order that man (632) who is of the earth, may terrify no more."


~Clive Barker in a video introduction to his film Night Breed 1990):
"I have always loved monsters, I think theres a core of all of us that envies their powers, that would love to live forever, or to fly, or to change shape at will...an underground city...peopled with creatures from our darkest fantasies...things that feed on blood, things that avoid the light of day, things repulsive and fascinating, forbidden souls, hiding from their cruelest enemy...man."


Who are the Nephilim?

Who are the Nephilim? Frequently, when I discuss the Nephilim, amongst Christians, Jews, and Muslims, I receive a mixed bag of reactions. Interestingly, Christians I have spoken to seem to trust the fact that the so-called Nephilim did exist. For immediately, in their minds, they interpret these to be the fallen angels. Unfortunately, this interpretation usually maintains the idea that the fallen angels were not flesh and blood beings.

In college, a Muslim roommate, named Ibrahim, went so far as to tell me that he has witnessed in museums "back home", the weapons and armor of "giant men", seemingly too large for any man to have weilded. Since this time, I have been able to see (via pictures only) evidence of this forbidden archaeology--remnants of a lost tribe of people, the giants or Nephilim. To be certain, surely many of these images are hoaxes, but, all in all, they serve a purpose, to reawaken our consciousness to that which does not conform to our present point of view. To invoke our memory to recall something which once was a reality, now merely a dream. It is for this reason, I feel, that all such media, whether hoax or real, serves a higher function, that of unveiling the mystery of iniquity surrounding the extinction of an entire species of beings from the face of the earth...at the hands of mankind.

The apt student of history will discover a long chain of Giant hoaxes, going all the way back to the 18th century where we find Commodore Byron's tales of Patagonian Giants, or the amazing popularity of giants, such as the Cardiff Giant, in the 19th century. (via Liquito and Apothecary's Drawer). And no, I am not a fan of the Giants...White Sox.

One of my favorite Giant hoaxes is recent and quite impressive. In the doctored photograph below, we see two archaeologists carefully digging up a 50-ft human skeleton! The original photo, according to one source,

"was taken on 16 September 2000 at an excavation site outside Hyde Park, New York. It is part of the documentation of a sensational excavation under the Paleontological Research Institution and the Department of Geological Sciences at Cornell University. What the team of more than 60 scientists, students and volunteers under paleontologist Prof. John Chiment discovered was, however, not the skeleton of a giant human being, but the skeleton of a mastodon, an extinct predecessor of the elephant."

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

[You can read the full article here]

The Hebrew word Nephilim comes from napal, which means "to fall", which is often associated with violence.(a) It first appears in the Bible in Genesis 6:4. Due to the more widely distributed translation of the King James version of the Bible, many are unfamiliar with the word, but may be acquainted with its translation as "giants". This misunderstanding stems from the fact that the KJV was translated from a much older source text, the LXX, which equated the Hebrew word Nephilim with the Greek gigas, or "giant". Indeed, they possessed inside information concerning the Nephilim, for in their eyes, these were much like their Titans (a Greek word etymologically derived from the Hebrew Satan)

Many modern translations, have opted not to tamper with the word, and leave it in its natural form-Nephilim.

Genesis speaks of the Nephilim in such a passing fashion, one is led to believe that we should know who these beings are. Obviously they are of consequence, for here they are mentioned in the first book of Moses! So who were they? Here is our first impression of them:

"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown." >~ Genesis 6:4

This passage is often theorized as suggesting that the Nephilim/"giants" were the offspring of the sons of God, equating them with mythological demi-gods. But, in my view, this theory does not carry much validity, for the passage does not imply in anyway that the Nephilim were descended from the sons of God [Heb. "bena ha Elohim"]. In fact, it suggests that they are two groups--what is not yet suggested however is the fact that these two groups are merely separate factions of the same empire. I have placed the factions in two frames of reference here:

Uncertain Time Frame One (Distant Past):When men began to increase in number on the earth.

1. Sons of God : married the daughters of men...and had children by them. It seems that this group already had dominion over the earth. Perhaps, for thousands of years.

Uncertain Time Frame Two (Distant Past):"in those days--and also afterward--"

2. Nephilim: descended (or fell) upon the earth from heaven...."in those days--and also afterward...". It appears, that this group was new on the scene, appearing suddenly and bent on invasion and conquest.

Although it is too early to support these claims, evidence will soon be presented as we move on.


A Kingdom Divided

Luke 11:18
"If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?"

Luke 11:17
"But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth."

Mark 13:8
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows."

Luke 9:27
"For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."

The author of Genesis 6:4 is clearly speaking of two separate groups, and placing them together in antithesis, while depicting them as being on the earth alongside humans. Earlier, I mentioned that these two groups were actually factions of the same empire. I initially derived this conclusion from the following source materials:

1. The parable of the Prodigal Son
2. Jude 1:8-10 slanderers of celestial beings, unreasoning animals
3. Psalm 109:5-7
4. Psalm 10:15-18
5. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Sons of perdition"
6. Revelation 17:11 The eighth beast of perdition
7. Zecharia Sitchin's works The Earth Chronicles

I will return to these later. But for now, I want to apply closer scutiny to Genesis 6:4.

Notice, the Nephilim were on the Earth in the days of the sons of God, and also afterward. But it is alluded to here that the Elohim were here first. What became of the sons of God /Elohim and their offspring? Whatever the case, it seems that the Nephilim gained the upperhand and became renown as heroes, or saviors of mankind. We shall soon unveil this mystery.

War in Heaven

Another theory concerning this passage suggests that the Nephilim are the fallen angels who rebelled against God, hence its root napal. Once again, this theory seems to fall short, yet their is a ring of truth here. The basis of this theory is that the root napal has a moral connotation. When we say, Babylon has fallen! It is not the same as saying an apple falls from a tree. The words are the same yet infer different contexts. In the case of the word napal, unlike its English counterpart, no moral connotation can be derived from the word. So, the word Nephilim implies that this particular group fell to the earth with violence, not because of any sin. For example, when the alleged ufo crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, would that mean that they had fallen to the earth because of immorality? Or malfunction? When a U.S. Jet pilot crash lands in foreign territory and is captured, do we say that his fall was do to his sinful nature? No, either he was shot out of the sky or some technical error occurred. Cause and effect. Why do we suspend our logic when reading the Bible? I call this lack of reason--being under a God-spell.

No doubt in my own mind, the sons of God, did not approve of these visitors, friendly or not, and there coming was met with violent resistance, enmity, and war in heaven as these two great adversaries collided.

Jesus alluded to this saying:

Matthew 24:37
"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

And also he recalls how,






The fact that the Nephilim were considered "heroes" and "men of renown" seems to suggest, at least in my heart, that the oppressed humans played their own role in their liberation from the sons of the Elohim...this of course was a great rebellion indeed!

Psalm 18:14
"He [the Nephilim] shot [their] arrows and scattered the enemies , great bolts of lightning and routed them."

Perhaps, there is a correlation between Revelation 12:7-9 and Genesis 6:4? Perhaps, they are speaking of the same event? The beginning and the end. This thought occurred to me one night after reading the following passage:


Matthew 24:37
"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

So with this in mind, I turned the page to the book of Revelation.

"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."


My view is as follows: the author goes out of his way to make a juxtaposition between the sons of God and the Nephilim. The sons of God, "went to the daughters of men and had children by them," which if one reads 1 Corinthians 11:10:

"For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the [Dragon and his] angels."

It is no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the daughters of men, nor their fathers saw this event as desirable, but rather an atrocity, akin to horrors of abduction and rape.


Whereas, the Nephilim are described as "heroes" and "men of renown". The sons of God were infamous while the Nephilim famous and renowned.

In Revelation, we find that Michael and his angels fight against the Dragon and his angels.

Michael is victorious. The Dragon is defeated.

The latter and his angels "lost their place in heaven" (lost their dominion over the earth) and were "hurled down" to the earth, we also see that they "lead the whole world astray."

The words "hurled down" is the Greek word ballo which has the following meanings:

a. to cast
b. throw
c. to place
d. put
e. bring
f. carry
g. drop

The verb in all its applications retains the idea of impulse.

The impulse to cast lots:


Psalm 22:18
"They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing"

Matthew 27:35
"When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots."

Mark 15:24
"And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get."

Luke 23:20-25
"Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

"For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."

"But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will."

The impulse of a tree to throw off its fruit in a strong wind:


Revelation 6:13
"...and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind."


The impulse to cast oneself down:


Matthew 4:6
"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."

Luke 4:9
"The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here."


The impulse to give to, place with or under the care of, as money with brokers:


Matthew 25:14-27: The Parable of the Talents

"...So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." v.26-27



Once again, if these two passages are referring to the same event, then the identities of the sons of God and the Nephilim has been unveiled, kept hidden within the word of God for ages.

Michael and his angels:
A.k.a.: The Nephilim

Dragon/Ancient Serpent/devil/Satan(adversary) and his angels:
A.k.a.: The bena ha Elohim or sons of God (El)

To recreate this scenario: As the Nephilim were descending to earth, they were met in the skies by the Dragon and the bena ha Elohim! They were overthrown by the Nephilim, and as a result, mankind's oppression had ended or so it seemed. What would follow was a veritable age of enlightenment on Earth for mankind.

[Note: The word rendered "heroes" (NIV) or "mighty men" (KJV) is the Hebrew word Gibbor.]

Here are various names by which the Nephilim were known to the peoples of the Bible:

Gibborim: means mighty ones.

Rephaim: means spirits of the dead.

Anakites:

Emims/Emites:


Zamzummim:

The Rephaim

Job 26:5
"The dead/Rephaim are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

Joshua 15:8
Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.

Joshua 18:16
The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued down the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.

2 Samuel 5:18
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;

2 Samuel 5:22
Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;

2 Samuel 23:13
During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

1 Chronicles 11:15
Three of the thirty chiefs came down to David to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

1 Chronicles 14:9
Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim;

Isaiah 17:5
It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm— as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

832 7 8 (Ps 88:10; Pr 2:18; 9:18;21:16; Isa 14:9; 26:14,19

Psalm 88:8-11
You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

Do you show your wonders to the dead/Rephaim?
Do those who are Rephaim/dead rise up and praise you?
Selah
Is your love declared in the grave (7700/qeber), your faithfulness in Abaddon(Hebrew)/Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness (3125/Hosek; See Ex. 14:20; Dt 4:11; 5:23), or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion (5964/ nesiyyah/ "place forgotten by the Lord")?

Abaddon/Apollyon

In the previous passage we learn that Abaddon is associated with the Rephaim. The writer of Revelation reveals that Abaddon is in fact a proper name designating the Angel of the Abyss!

Revelation 9:1-11

"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. "

"The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss."

"When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss."

"And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth."

"They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man."

"During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them."

"The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months."

"They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon."


In verse 11 we discover that Abaddon and Apollyon are names. Both mean Destroyer.

Isaiah 26:14
"They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish."


Genesis 10:9
He was a mighty hunter (gibbor)before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD."


Deuteronomy 2:20 - 21.
"That was also regarded as the land of the giants; giants formerly dwelt there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place."


Exegesis: Here we learn that the Zamzummim, like the Anakites, were destroyed and dispossessed of their lands and wealth. Furthermore, in Isaiah 26:14, we learn that a mandate was given to make "all their memory to perish". This stirs up memories of Nazi Germany and their diabolical scheme to exterminate all Jews. Holocaust.


Jude 1:6

"But the angels that did not keep their proper domain, but left their abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day..."

Exegesis: If we consider both Genesis 6 and Revelation 12 as discussing the same event, then the question arises...which group, the Nephilim, or the Ben ha Elohim, does Jude accuse of of not keeping "their proper domain"?

The Ben ha Elohim, i.e. the dragon and his angels?

Or,

The Nephilim, i.e. Michael and his angels?

Psalm 69:26-28

Psalm 10:13-18

{{{{{{ Continued: Psalm 109(top). The sons of Adam are under the oppressive rule of the Ben ha Elohim. The Nephilim, descend to earth and secretly conspire with mankind (Eve) to rebel against the Elohim (a reptillian race) and liberate humanity.

The Nephilim appoint the humans as brokers, and also, charge them with the execution of the remaining ben ha elohim.

Garden: Serpent alliance with woman
Babel: Serpent alliance with woman; Nephilim cause confusion.
Flood: Serpent alliance with woman; Nephilim hide truth and prepare for the ELE. extinction level event.

Raven/Dove: Noah cast lots to decide which gods to trust.




Garden of Eden. Some time later, the serpent, wage




1 Cor. 11:10.
"For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels."



Genesis 6:4
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Numbers 13:33
And there we saw the Nephilim/giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim/giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Exegesis: Here is why many translators called the Nephilim "giants".

Deuteronomy 2:11
Which also were accounted Nephilim/giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites called them Emims.

Exegesis:

Deuteronomy 2:20
(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;


Deuteronomy 3:11

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

Deuteronomy 3:13
And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

Joshua 12:4
And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

Joshua 13:12
All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out.

Joshua 15:8
And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:

Joshua 17:15
And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

Joshua 18:16
And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,

Deuteronomy 2:10
The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;
Deuteronomy 2:9-11 (in Context) Deuteronomy 2 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 2:21
A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:
Deuteronomy 2:20-22 (in Context) Deuteronomy 2 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 9:2
A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!




(a) Source: NIV Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, p.9 Text notes.

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